April 18, 2018

Inside the Mind of IT

Let’s take one of our occasional journeys into that alternate reality known as…The Mind of IT. We’ll start with this survey by CIO.com, which compares responses from CIOs and business department leaders. It concludes they are working more closely than before but also finds a sharp disconnect in perceptions As in, 54% of IT leaders thing they’re working closely with business units to prioritize IT projects but just 27% of the business executives agree. Even more divergent: 73% of IT leaders think they recommend technology solutions while just 29% of business leaders think so. So either IT overstates its role or business leaders understate it. Or both.

Meanwhile, online review collector feefo asked 100 senior IT decision makers about artificial intelligence and found its sets their geeky little hearts aflutter: 96% said AI will have a positive effect on customer engagement and 66% said failure to adopt it would harm their competitiveness. Nearly half (47%) thought the Chief Technology Officer was in charge of AI, compared with just 36% naming the CEO and 26% naming a Chief Digital Officer. Only 19% thought they had adequate resources to actually develop AI technology but a super-optimistic 82% were confident their board and senior managers understand AI sufficiently.

Digging still deeper in IT psyches, tech review platform TrustRadius looked at their buying preferences. They didn’t ask about the importance of flashing lights. But they did find that buyers pay more attention to product demonstrations, personal recommendations and reviews than information directly from the vendors. A whopping 85% of vendors said they try to be honest about product limits but just 37% of buyers said they are. Interesting.

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